High and Dry

Which is what I am.
Since I'm on the second floor.
Rain started sometime in the early morning; previously the winds had started to gust but the worst is still about four hours away.
The hurricane was downgraded late last night to a tropical storm and it has slowed since hitting the Big Island.
Which is a good thing.
Not for folks on the Big Island, but for us on O'ahu at least.
Yesterday I took all the stuff in my room and locked it in my office:

Which turned out to be a precautionary measure as I learned when talking to the Red Cross person last night, they are keeping all the folks in our gym.
Unless it gets really bad.
Last night there were about a sixty or seventy folks waiting to get in:

The gym that is.
There were still others camped out in the usual spots around campus and city buses were going around bringing other folks in:

The paper reported that about 180 folks spent the night.
How long the emergency shelter will be open depends on what happens today and tomorrow I suppose as Hurricane Julio is still out there and closing.
It's raining hard off and on and flooding is still a problem.
I may venture out to see what's up later.
View from the lanai at 7:45am:

Flossie!

Well in about 12 hours or so, tropical storm Flossie will be passing over the Flat Tire Command Center (FTCC).
The storm has been weakening as it nears the islands, but right now it looks like the Big Island will be taking a full hit.
It's been a while since we had a full blown storm here, tropical or otherwise.
Hurricane Iwa hit in 1982, and we had Hurricane Iniki in 1992, so following that timeline we're a year late for a big one.
I remember both storms and they were doozies.
Both hit Hawaii in the channel between O'ahu and Kauai, sort delivering a left hook as it passed southeast of the island chain.
Flossie looks like it'll pass right smack dab over us, giving each island some tropical storm love.
The view outside of the FTCC this morning:

Actually our hurricane season doesn't start until like November so this is more like a summer storm.
Unfortunately I'm not very prepared.
Or am I?
Most of my camping stuff is all packed away in boxes of unknown location.
On the other hand I do have my bicycle stuff.
Like a couple of headlights that if set on low last a pretty long time.
If needed, I got three tail lights that can bathe me in a red glow.
I have a candle around here somewhere that I've had for like forever; I'll be looking for it as soon as I'm done doing this.
Ever since I moved, I've been cooking on this:

I've got lots of gas and a bunch of canned soups.
I think storms/hurricanes are an adventure.
We need them every once in a while to remind us of who we are and where we are and that we at the mercy of powers beyond our control.
Most of us tend to take things for granted don't you know.
Besides, the rain washes away the dust and plants get watered and after every thing looks all nice and green.
What with all the debris on the roads and all.
Anyways, I'll be riding this out and the only thing I'm worrying about losing is my internet connection.
You know, the eVilness, CL, Amazon and all that.
Hope it's dry where you are.
Not wishing you were here: